The Request of Lady Sialeeds
by NajiaSajjadKhanNajia111
Summary: Lady Sialeeds Falenas was restless in her afterlife. She needed to know that her beloved nephew and niece were safe and sound and she needed to tell them the truth.


**THE REQUEST OF LADY SIALEEDS**

 **NOTE:** This was written as an entry to the Suikoden Day 2018 FanFiction Writing Competition. Please read and review! Thanks!

Lyon drew in a sharp breath. A shining, cold blade of a knife was against her neck. Her attacker was a tall, thin man whose eyes shone with malice as he smiled with his thin lips. He then said in a rasping voice,

"Your time is up, little one. You left and betrayed Nether Gate and now you will pay!"

Lyon's whole life flashed in front of her eyes. The time she was saved by Ferid from Nether Gate, her time with Prince Freyjadour as his bodyguard, the war of the Sun Rune, her resurrection and how she had now joined as a member of the Queen's Knights. She knew there were no resurrections this time as her dark past had finally caught up to her. But she would die with no regrets as she a mere former faceless assassin had turned her life around by being at the Prince's side. She waited for her end to come but then there was a flash of golden light. Her attacker's knife had been knocked out of his hand by a golden chakram and had fell to the floor with a clatter. Then that same chakram's sharp edges slashed the assassin's neck and he fell lifeless. Lyon looked up towards her savior. No! It couldn't be! Lady Sialeeds!? But she had died and that too after betraying them. Sialeeds flicked her golden hair and smiled at her. It was a warm one. The one she used to give when she had not become cold and heartless. Seeing her confused expression, Sialeeds said,

"You should not let your guard down, Lyon. If you do what you did right now then how in the world are you going to protect my dear nephew and niece? Please, tell them that I wish to speak to them. The power of the Twilight Rune which we both wielded when combined with the Power of the Dawn Rune will lead them to me. Please, Lyon they need to know the truth. They need to know why I was forced to betray them."

Then Sialeeds bowed deeply to Lyon giving her a pleading look. Lyon grabbed her shoulders and replied,

"Lady Sialeeds!? Please do not bow to me. Of course I will help you. Thank you for saving my life. I will surely bring them to you."

Sialeeds muttered gratefully,

"Thank you, Lyon."

Lyon woke up with a start. Of course it had to be a dream. Her life was in danger only in her dream. Lady Sialeeds, her savior had passed away previously and she couldn't have saved her in real life. Lyon wiped away the beads of sweat on her forehead and got up. It was very early in the morning but she had to give Lady Sialeeds' message to the Commander of the Queen's Knights, Freyjadour and Queen Lymsleia. She got dressed into her Queen's Knight Uniform and went out of her room.

She went and stood in front of the ornately carved bronze door of Commander Freyjadour's room. She rapped loudly on the door three times. After a short while, Freyjadour opened the door and peered at her with bleary eyes. He then yawned and said sleepily,

"Oh, it's you Lyon. Why did you wake me up so early in the morning!? I wanted to sleep some more. What is it?"

Lyon tilted her head and answered,

"And good morning to you too, sleepyhead. Something extraordinary happened today and I needed your urgent attention on it."

Freyjadour scratched his head and said,

"Oh, alright. Let me get changed and I will come and join you soon."

He then closed his door and went to get ready.

After a while, Commander Freyjadour dressed in his uniform came out of his room and looked at Lyon questioningly. Lyon then narrated to him her entire dream and spoke about Sialeeds' request. Freyjadour's eyes widened in surprise as he heard the tale and after a while, he muttered thoughtfully,

"Hmm, very interesting. Ah, so Aunt Sialeeds wanted to speak to us. I am willing to go through with the plan to see her but I don't know about Lym. She is mighty angry at our aunt and rightly so. She will need a lot of convincing."

Lyon nodded in reply and then both the knights went to the Banquet Hall to join their Queen for breakfast.

They had to wait for some time before Queen Lymsleia arrived with her entourage looking regal in her royal robes and her big, yellow Sun Rune crown. At the sight of them she ran and hugged both Freyjadour and Lyon in turn. Freyjadour cleared his throat and exclaimed looking rather amused,

"Your Majesty, why are you hugging us your humble subjects? Actually we should be bowing to you, my Queen."

Lymsleia huffed in annoyance and replied,

"Oh shut up! Geez, I don't want to be formal all the time especially with you, dear brother. That includes you too, Lyon."

Lyon laughed a little and said,

"Alright, Queen Lym. We aren't sitting in a formal setting right now anyway."

Freyjadour ruffled Lymsleia's hair fondly and they then commenced eating their breakfast. It was a scrumptious meal of fried eggs, toast and tea.

After having their fill, Freyjadour said a little hesitatingly,

"Ah, Lym. Lyon saw a rather bizarre vision today. Perhaps it was related to the Twilight Rune. She wants to tell you about it."

Lymsleia nodded and then looked at Lyon expectantly giving undivided attention to her.

Lyon began narrating her tale looking rather nervous. During it Lymsleia clenched her fist angrily and yet she controlled herself enough to listen to the whole story. Then she furrowed her brows in rage and bellowed,

"Sialeeds!? How dare she show her face again even in a vision! She was a traitor. Lyon, how could you even look at her after what all she has done!?"

Lyon bowed many times in apology looking frightened and muttered briskly,

"I am sorry. Please forgive me, my Queen. But…. I had to. It was important."

Freyjadour cut in,

"Lym, please control yourself. It is not Lyon's fault. I have always wondered about the reason behind Aunt Sialeeds' defection. Don't you wonder about it too? I think we should to talk to her about it."

Lymsleia answered stubbornly,

"No, I don't! What reasons could she possibly have!? And why try to tell us now? We don't need someone like her."

Freyjadour shook his head and replied,

"I don't know the answer to that. But I think it is the Twilight Rune which is trying to guide us to something. The True Runes do not lie when they want us to know something important. Our Aunt Sialeeds was our family, she was good to us for the majority of our lives. Please, Lym she at least deserves a chance for an explanation!"

Lymsleia calmed down a little and murmured,

"Hmm, I think I want to consult the Sun Rune right now in this matter to verify if it's truly the Twilight Rune which is trying to tell us something. Wait here, you two. I will be back soon."

She stood up and asked some of her guards to accompany her to the room where the Sun Rune was kept. She then left to converse with the Sun Rune.

Lyon and Freyjadour sat there in silence waiting for Lymsleia to return. After about half an hour, Lymsleia came back and sat in front of them. She then took a deep sigh and said,

"The Sun Rune has spoken to me. It is the wish of the Rune as well as the wishes of the Twilight and Dawn Runes to show us what we need to see. I am not too eager but I suppose we have no choice but to meet with Sialeeds. You two please lead the way then."

Freyjadour and Lyon nodded in reply as they both clasped Lymsleia's hands. They then held each other's hands and concentrated hard. The two children of the Sun Rune, the Dawn Rune and the Twilight Rune shone bright and then a blinding light enveloped the room. The three of them closed their eyes.

After a few minutes, they opened their eyes and found themselves in front of a large ornately carved bronze door. They instantly recognized this place. It was the entrance to the Royal chamber of Lady Sialeeds Falenas in the Sun Palace. Taking a deep breath, Freyjadour turned the knob and entered the room along with Lyon and Lymsleia. They saw Sialeeds sitting on her bed stroking her golden dyed hair. She wore her purple royal robes and looked the same Aunt Sialeeds as she had been to them when their family was alive and well. She smiled and stood up. She wanted to come closer but stopped when Lymsleia narrowed her eyes at her angrily and muttered,

"Sialeeds!"

Sialeeds nodded sadly and said to them,

"Yes, it is I your old Aunt Sialeeds who stands in front of you."

Then she nodded at Lyon and thanked her for bringing them to her to which Lyon bowed in reply.

Then Sialeeds murmured,

"It is good to see both of you. Queen Lymsleia, I remember our last meeting was rather unpleasant unfortunately."

Lymsleia hissed,

"Yes, as I remember it I had said that 'I hope that you go to hell'."

Sialeeds sighed and answered,

"Well, I don't blame you as I did deserve that comment."

Freyjadour interrupted looking frantic,

"Aunt Sialeeds, please tell us why! Why did you betray us? I just couldn't believe it!"

Tears came in Lymsleia's eyes and she cried out,

"Why!? I thought you loved us!? That you would never leave us! But you were the traitor who joined the murderer of our father and mother! You disgust me, Sialeeds! No forgiveness is enough for you!"

Sialeeds broke down into sobs and wailed,

"I know what I have done is unforgivable! I do not ask for forgiveness as I don't deserve it. But believe me, I have always loved the both of you till the last of my breath. I did what I had to save both of you from any further tragedies from happening. I had to cleanse the Senate!"

Freyjadour asked her looking confused,

"Cleanse the Senate? What do you mean by that, Aunt Sialeeds?"

Sialeeds instead of replying asked him,

"Tell me Freyjadour, have the Godwins or the Barows been interfering actively now in the affairs of Falena? How is everything running now?"

Freyjadour answered,

"No, the Godwins have been wiped out in the Sun Rune War and Euram Barows has turned over a new leaf and does not interfere at all. I think as far as the governance is concerned everything is going rather smoothly. Don't you agree, Lym?"

Lymsleia replied in the affirmative to that.

Sialeeds gave a teary smile and exclaimed,

"Thank the Feitas! I have achieved what I had wanted to make Falena a better place for you two. I have won for the both of you!"

Freyjadour, Lymsleia and Lyon were getting more and more confused by the minute. But then, Freyjadour remembered something. He then told Sialeeds,

"I don't understand exactly what you are saying but when I dueled Gizel Godwin to the death, there was something he said as his last words. He said, 'in the end it was not you who won, it was Sialeeds'. Does this have something to do with what you are trying to say? Please explain yourself, Aunt Sialeeds."

Sialeeds smirked and replied,

"Yes, Gizel guessed correctly what I had achieved. In Falena, since times immemorial the Godwin Family and the Barows Family have taken turns in manipulating the Queen and the government with their own agendas. Because of them countless lives have been plundered in numerous succession wars and their corruption knew no bounds. Such was the case with my mother Falzrahm and my aunt Shahrewar too. I have seen much so bloodshed and suffered so much pain because of these Godwins and Barows. I had had enough. I did not wish for history to repeat itself once again. I wanted you two, my beloved niece and nephew to spend a life free of the stronghold of these power hungry families. So I set out to eliminate them. I knew if you were successful in winning the war, the Godwins would be wiped out automatically so I manipulated it so by regretfully kidnapping Lym and returning her so that the war could reach its fulfillment and achieve such a climatic end for them. I killed that snake, Salum Barows myself so that the Barows would be destroyed once and for all."

Freyjadour said wiping a tear from his eyes,

"Aunt Sialeeds! Why did you go down that dark path of murder just for the sake of us? You could have told us what was necessary to be done without this bloodshed and we would have followed you anywhere."

Sialeeds sobbed hard and replied,

"I don't know. I thought you were both incapable of disposing them off. I did not want your hands to be dirty. So I did all by myself. You were both too dear to me and it was perhaps this love that blinded me not to see right from wrong in the approach I used. I am so sorry. I love you so much that it hurts. Please, do not doubt the love I have for you. I cannot live here in peace if you do. It tortures me here."

Then all of them cried their hearts out.

Then Lymsleia came near Sialeeds and said tearfully while putting a hand on her shoulder,

"My dear Aunt Sialeeds, I didn't know. I am sorry that I doubted you."

Sialeeds exclaimed,

"No Lym, it is I who should be sorry for hurting you both in the process of what I did."

Lymsleia muttered,

"I think I understand now what you were trying to do. Although you went about it in the wrong way. I am so happy to know that you still love us. And I forgive you."

Freyjadour smiled and said,

"I too forgive you, my dear Aunt Sialeeds. I never wanted to believe that you wanted something else besides our happiness and I am glad to know now that I was right in thinking so. And you know what, you do deserve forgiveness because you sacrificed your life for Falena, for us. That alone is more than enough to wash away your sin."

Sialeeds cried tears of joy and then said to them while spreading out her arms,

"Thank you, my dear children for your love and your forgiveness. Now come to me!"

Freyjadour and Lymsleia hugged their favorite Aunt one last time. Lyon commented teary-eyed herself,

"I have never seen something as touching as this. I am so happy to be a part of this household."

And then at Sialeeds' beckoning, Lyon joined them in the hug too.

Then Sialeeds kissed their foreheads and said with beaming with pride,

"My dear niece Lymsleia, you have become a fine Queen, finer than all the previous Queens. Freyjadour my handsome nephew, you are doing wonders as an able Commander of the Queen's Knights. Lyon you too, you are doing so well as a Queen's Knight. Please continue taking care of them. You have all grown so much. I am so proud of you all!"

Then she muttered waving at them,

"Goodbye now. I thank the Dawn and the Twilight Runes granting me this opportunity. To explain and to redeem myself. May the Feitas river watch over you, my dear family. I am sure one day we will meet again."

Freyjadour, Lymsleia and Lyon waved back to Sialeeds and then the same blinding light enveloped the room.

Soon they appeared back in the Royal Banquet Hall where Lymsleia said to Freyjadour and Lyon,

"I am glad that we went to see Aunt Sialeeds. We must make sure to honor her properly now. How about we relocate her final resting place here in the cemetery of the Sun Palace so that she can be with the rest of the family?"

Freyjadour nodded approvingly and replied,

"That's a good idea."

And so it was. Lady Sialeeds Falenas could now contently rest in peace knowing that her beloved nephew and niece were safe and well and recognized now the love she had had for them despite all odds.


End file.
